High Toryism

High Toryism is the old traditionalist conservatism which was in line with 17th-century British Toryism. High Toryism is essentially neo-feudalism, supporting a traditional hierarchical society over utopian equality, as well as holding the traditional gentry as a higher cultural benchmark than the bourgeoisie. Higher Tories prefer corporatism and protectionism over the neoliberalism which took hold in the 1960s, and its advocates are opposed to Thatcherism.

The High Tories preferred high church Anglicanism (with many covertly supporting the Jacobites), preferred lowered taxation, opposed an expanding military and empire, and opposed overseas commerce. After the Reform Act 1832, the landed gentry's privileges were reduced, and the High Tories would be personified by the prime ministers Lord Derby and Lord Salisbury. High Tories supported the values of the historical landed gentry and aristocracy, supporting their self-imposed sense of duty and responsibility to all of society, including the lower classes. Their focus is on maintaining a traditional, rooted society and way of life, which was threatened as much by modern capitalism (which was influenced by classical liberalism) as by socialism; it saw modern capitalism as too individualistic, destructive of communities, greedy, and irreligious.